Go green: Himachal government to tap wind, solar energy in Spiti

Kaza: Terming Spiti Valley ideal for solar and wind energy generation, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Friday said that more such projects would be developed in the area.

Speaking at a public rally at Kaza, the headquarters of Spitia, the chief minister announced that ‘nautor’ or right to utilize the waste land owned by the government would be given to those persons who are landless or having a small landholding with them.

The chief minister said the bridge over the Keer rivulet would be soon constructed and its approach road would be completed soon.

The bridge was washed away last year in flash-floods.

“The government is always considerate towards the demands of the tribal people and today Lahaul-Spiti district is fast developing and all the villages of the valley would be connected with roads,” the chief minister said.

Regarding construction of the Mudh-Bhaba road connecting the Spiti Valley with Kinnaur district, he said the state has taken up the case relating to forest clearance for the project with the central government.

He said the road network in the Spiti Valley would be completed on priority. The roads included Losar to Kyomo, Rangreek to Kwang, Kaza to Langcha and Shithling to Mane to Siluk.

A part of the remote but picturesque Lahaul-Spiti district, the Spiti Valley, a cold desert dotted by tiny hamlets spread over the Himalayan peaks, adjoining Tibet, is a land of Buddhism and virgin nature. (IANS)

The 10-year project on 'Improvement of Himachal Pradesh Forest Ecosystems Management and Livelihoods', which began this fiscal, will be implemented in 61 ranges. Wikimedia Commons

Himachal Pradesh will manage and improve its forest ecosystems under a Rs 800-crore project funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), official sources said on Sunday.

JICA-India official Katsuo Matsumoto will visit the state capital on Monday for the launch workshop of the project, where Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur will also be present.

The 10-year project on ‘Improvement of Himachal Pradesh Forest Ecosystems Management and Livelihoods’, which began this fiscal, will be implemented in 61 ranges in seven forest circles in Kinnaur, Shimla, Bilaspur, Mandi, Kullu and Lahaul-Spiti districts, an official spokesperson told IANS.

He said a loan agreement for the project was signed in Tokyo, Japan, on March 29 in the presence of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

JICA headquarters, Osaka,Japan. Wikimedia Commons

The project provides for 80 per cent loan and the remaining amount will be state equity. Of the loan component, 90 per cent will be a grant from the Centre.

The JICA is already providing a Rs 321 crore assistance to the state under a crop diversification project since 2011 for bettering the socio economic condition of farmers in Mandi, Kangra, Hamirpur, Bilaspur and Una districts. (IANS)